


I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

by blueboxesandtrafficcones



Series: 31 Days of Ficmas 2017 [15]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Kid Fic, Pete's World, Santa Claus - Freeform, truth about Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 07:32:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13072131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueboxesandtrafficcones/pseuds/blueboxesandtrafficcones
Summary: Little Sarah Tyler thinks she has the truth about Santa figured out - she just doesn't realize how right she is.





	I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

**Author's Note:**

> Day 15 of 31 Days of Ficmas! You guessed it - word of the day is Santa Claus! (or elves)

“Santa, Santa, Santa, Santa,” William quietly chanted behind Sarah as they snuck down the stairs.  She rolled her eyes, feeling sorry for her little brother.  She was old enough to be reasonably suspicious of the legendary man; though Nana always told stories of him, especially around Christmas, Mummy and Daddy never contributed, just looking at each other.  She’d long since figured out the truth.

Santa wasn’t magic; Santa was a Time Lord.

Sarah knew all about Time Lords from Daddy’s stories, and she’d seen proof.  If you went into the hall door on the left, you found coats and snowboots and other boring things.  If you went into hall door on the right, you were in the TARDIS, which could take them _anywhere_.

Really, it was the only possible explanation.  The ‘sleigh’ was his TARDIS, and it had to be bigger on the inside to carry all of the presents for every child; plus, time travel was the only possible way to get to every house in one night.  And he had to be really, really old, and Sarah knew of no species older than Time Lords.  People only said he was magic cause no one was supposed to know about Time Lords and TARDISes.

But Sarah was nothing if not a good big sister, and was willing to let him keep believing in magic if it made him (and Nana) happy.  He’d figure it out eventually.

They finally made it down the stairs, slowly peeking around the corner only to immediately pull back with twinned gasps.

Santa was in the sitting room!

“Sarah,” William hissed, whacking his sister on the arm.

“I see!”  She whispered back, and they slowly poked their heads around again to confirm.

It was true – Santa was real!

He was pulling presents out of his bag, handing them to Mummy who rearranged them under the tree.

“Is that everything?”  Santa asked, and Mummy smiled at him.

“Think so, is the bag empty?”

Santa dug his arm into the bag again, but came up without anything else.  “Yep.”

“Biscuits, then?”  Mummy offered, and Santa settled on the couch with a sigh.

“Ta.  And cocoa?”

Mummy brought the plate and two mugs over and settled next to Santa.  From her vantage point, Sarah could see how close they were sitting as they shared the biscuits.

“Ooh, banana!”  Santa exclaimed, and Sarah giggled – Daddy had been right!  He’d said they were Santa’s favorite, and they obviously were!

“Yeah, what a surprise,” Mummy giggled, and Sarah frowned.  Something wasn’t right – and where was Daddy?

Sarah and William watched Mummy sit and talk with Santa for several long minutes before he stood up, groaning.  “I think it’s time for Santa and his elf to go to bed.”

“I agree,” Mummy said in a funny voice she only used when she thought they couldn’t hear.  “Now that Santa’s delivered his gifts, I think it’s time for him to receive one, don’t you?”

Santa gave Mummy a wide smile.  “Have you been a good girl, Miss Tyler?”

Mummy laughed again, putting her hand on Santa’s chest.  “Nope, and I plan to be extra naughty soon.”

And then Santa kissed her.

Sarah audibly gasped, pulling back at the sight.  Shock and confusion raced through her when Mummy didn’t pull away, only leaned in closer.

Finally they separated and Santa said, “Yeah, it’s definitely time for bed.  Santa needs to park his sleigh.”  He wiggled his eyebrows, before picking Mummy up and throwing her over his shoulder as she shrieked and giggled.

“Shh!  You’ll wake the kids,” Santa laughed, starting to walk towards the stairs with his prize.

Sarah knew they had to get out of there before they were spotted, and pulled William up the stairs and back to their rooms.  He stopped her just before they separated with an excited tug on her sleeve.

“Sarah!  Sarah, Santa’s real, he’s really real!  And we just saw him!”

“Yeah,” she replied flatly.  “Go to sleep.”

And she turned and went to bed, but instead of sleeping she spent quite a while crying her eyes out.

She was right.

Santa was a Time Lord.

-

“Good morning, babies!”  Rose gasped the next morning when she found her children sitting at the top of the stairs.

“Mummy, it’s Christmas!”  William all but tackled her, wrapping his arms around her knees in excitement.

“It is, Happy Christmas,” she laughed, picking him up and settling him on her hip.  It was a bittersweet moment; she knew by next Christmas, he’d be too big.  Then she realized her daughter hadn’t moved.

“Sarah, it’s Christmas.  Aren’t you excited?”

“Yeah, whatever,” the little girl sighed, playing with the garland attached to the rail.

Rose glanced over at the Doctor as he walked up, still tying his robe.  She nodded to their daughter and pulled a sad face, making him frown.

“Happy Christmas, Sarah,” he said, and she actually looked up at him.

“Happy Christmas.”  The dejected look on her face was enhanced by the tear tracks she’d unsuccessfully tried to hide, and her parents exchanged alarmed looks.

“Let’s have breakfast, yeah?”  The Doctor suggested, offering his hand to his daughter.  Thankfully she took it and let him lead her to the kitchen.

It was quick work to make their traditional cinnamon rolls, and William spent most of the time babbling about Santa and what he hoped was under the tree.

Conversely, every time the mythical present-giver was brought up Sarah only looked more upset, culminating in her bursting into tears and shouting, “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” as she fled the room.

Rose quickly moved after her, leaving the Doctor to soothe William.

“Sarah?”  Following her instincts, she found her daughter in her room on board the TARDIS, sobbing into her pillow.  They’d been trying to give her a bit more privacy now that she was getting older, and only tapped on the door instead of barging in.  “Darling, can I come in?”

Sarah didn’t respond and Rose took that as a yes, settling down on the bed beside the girl and placing a hand on her back to rub soothing circles.

She let her cry it out, offering silent comfort.  Finally the girl calmed, rolling over and cuddling into her mother’s hip with a sniffle.

“Here, love,” Rose offered her a tissue which she took, blowing her nose with a great honk before sitting up against her pillow.

“Do you want to talk?”  Rose pleaded with her eyes, heartbroken that her daughter was so upset, especially on Christmas morning.

“Santa’s not real, is he?”  Sarah finally whispered.

“What makes you say that?”  Rose asked carefully.

Her daughter looked up at her.  “I saw you last night.  With ‘Santa’.”  She said the name with as much disgust as her little body could manage.

“What exactly did you see?”

“We saw Santa putting presents under the tree, then eating the cookies.”

“And why does that mean Santa doesn’t exist?”  Rose knew her daughter strongly believed in logic, and wanted to know how she’d made the leap.

“Because you kissed him.”

Whatever her mother had expected, it obviously hadn’t been that.  “What?”

“Santa, you kissed him.”  She repeated.  “And then you laughed.  But you only smile and laugh like that with Daddy.  And you wouldn’t kiss anyone else, because that’s bad.  So if you were smiling and laughing and kissing Santa, then that means it wasn’t Santa it was Daddy.  And if it was Daddy, then that means Santa’s not real.”

Rose bit her lip, impressed with her daughter’s reasoning.

“You’re right.  Last night, Daddy dressed up as Santa to help me put the presents under the tree,” she admitted.  “But that doesn’t mean Santa doesn’t exist.”

Sarah glared at her bedspread.  “Yes, it does.”

“Nope.  Santa’s real, and I know cause Daddy knows him.  Apparently his name’s Jeff.  I always forget to ask for that story, actually.  But Santa Claus, based on Saint Nicholas, is real.  He just doesn’t deliver gifts anymore.”

The little girl looked at her with narrow eyes, a wary look on her face.

“Santa’s really real?”

“Yes,” Rose said firmly.  “Not the way Nana says, or anyone else, but he’s a real person, I promise.  He just gets a lot of credit, because people like to tell that story.”

“Why?  If it’s not true, why tell it?”

Rose shrugged.  “Because it’s what people do – what they’ve always done.  We didn’t agree with it, but Nana thought it would ruin the magic of Christmas for you not to know.  Then she baked Daddy a banana bread, and he went along with it.”

Sarah shook her head sadly, wise beyond her years.  “Every time.”

“Is this what had you so upset?”  Rose asked, relieved when her daughter nodded, looking much less miserable.

“I’m sorry I shouted at William.  I was just upset and confused.”

“He’ll be all right,” Rose promised, hugging her daughter close.  “Are you?”

Sarah nodded again.

Rose bit her lip to stifle a giggle.  “Did you really know because you saw me kiss him?”

“Uh huh,” Sarah said.  “You wouldn’t kiss anyone but Daddy, so if you were kissing him it had to be Daddy.”

“Very logical,” she allowed, pressing another kiss to her daughter’s head.  “Are we good?”

“Yes.  I’m hungry, can we go finish the cinnamon rolls?”  Bouncing back with the energy of her youth, Sarah leapt off the bed and towards the door.

“Yes, love, we can.  Then presents.”

“Yay, presents!”  The little girl took off running, shouting the word the whole way.

Rose followed at a more moderate pace, giggling once her daughter was out of earshot.

Jackie was going to love this story.


End file.
